Hollow enclosures (“electronic enclosures’) are commonly used to house electrical or electronic components and circuits (“electronic assemblies”) of a variety of electronic products and instruments. The electronic enclosures serve to provide structural support to hold the electronic assemblies in place and also to protect or isolate the electronic assemblies from external environmental hazards (e.g., dust). The variety of electronic products and instruments using such electronic enclosures is diverse (e.g., consumer electronics, game consoles, handheld and desktop computers, industrial PC's, keyboards, computer input devices, pushbuttons, cell phones, smartphones, and charging stations, etc.).
The electronic enclosures are often made by fitting or joining together, for example, several shaped parts or sub-parts (including parts or sub-parts of the enclosed electronic assemblies). For example, an electronic enclosure for a common computer keyboard includes a shaped top panel fitted on to a shaped semi-hollowed bottom panel. The two panels, which may be glued, screwed or fastened together, are shaped to form a hollow space or cavity to hold keyboard switches and circuits. The top panel may include cutouts for securely mounting and surrounding “keys” or pushbuttons.
In general, the electronic enclosures may include several components or parts made of different materials (e.g., metal, plastics, composites, etc.). The components or parts can have complicated geometries, which can make joining them together challenging.
Thus, a need exists for systems, methods, and apparatus to address the shortfalls of present technology and to provide other new and innovative features.